The fun things we do

book

A few years ago I saw a post on Facebook about having all your kids teachers sign and write little notes for your child from kindergarten through high school. I fell in love with this idea. I however didn’t want to use the Dr Seuss book they did, since Sophia isn’t a big Dr Seuss fan. I’ve been looking for alternatives to use the last few months since Sophia’s first preschool prep class ends soon. I finally found her the perfect high school graduation present, The Wonderful Things You Will Be by Emily Winfield Martin.

At first I wasn’t sure if it would be big enough with enough space to write on for the next 15 years for all her teachers. I ordered it to see it in person. I read it and it made me cry. It is the perfect one for us.

Here is a video of me reading it so you can see for yourself if this is the one for you 🙂

The fun of counting down to Christmas, with a book advent mailbox and Snowflake the Elf

Instead of doing the traditional advent calendars I really liked the idea of getting a book a day instead. I saw an idea posted about (not able to relocate it now :/ ) where you wrap 25 books and have them in a basket and have your child pick a new one every night before bed. Well that concept, I felt, was a bit complex for a 1.5 year old so instead I crafted this mail box (with the help of my dad) last year. Every morning she would wake up and go get her mailbox and bring it to our bed and she’d unwrap the book and we would read it as a family in bed. She would check the mailbox after her naps too but to her disappointment the books only manifested in there in the mornings 🙂

25 Christmas themed books ready for Christmas count down!

I chose to do all Christmas and winter themed books. You could do any topics that interest your children.

Next year I think I will pick through all our most favorite Christmas books and re-wrap them and only get a few new ones to add to the bunch. I don’t need to end up with hundreds of random Christmas books after all. 😉

Snowflake the Elf all ready for morning for Sophia to find her

We also started Elf on the Shelf last year with Sophia. She named her elf Snowflake. We are doing a modified version of Elf on the Shelf and sticking with only part of the story. For us she tells Santa about all the good things Sophia does but not the bad. We don’t focus on any negativity with her, shes just for fun. We move her to a new location every night for Sophia to find. We did keep her up high and out of reach last year as we didn’t think she’d remember not to touch her… she might be staying high up this year too.